THE HISPA BEETLES. 205 



of the Beetle, but even the antennae, which are very slight and 

 slender, can be easily seen through them. The middle of the 

 thorax and elytra is raised, somewhat like the same portions of 

 the preceding insect, and is of a dark brown. Upon the shoulders 

 of the elytra, and near their tip, are two rounded spots, which 

 at first sight ore of the same dark brown as the centre. If, how- 

 ever, a strong side light be directed on them, they are seen to be 

 of a shining metallic green, almost exactly like common green 

 foil, and having almost the same little crumples and wrinkles as 

 the foil. 



There are very many species of this genus. The present ex- 

 ample comes from India. There is another from New Guinea, 

 and therefore named As^idomorplm Novcc-guinecnsis, which has 

 the cross-like marks of a deep black, but not reaching each 

 other in the middle of the elytra ; and Aspidomorpha mutata, of 

 Sierra Leone, which is the palest and most glass-like of all the 

 species, has a black Y-shaped mark instead of the usual cross. 



As is often the case with insects, some members of this group 

 are so unlike their companions, that at first sight they appear to 

 have no connection with each other. The Hispid es afford a good 

 example of this fact. They belong to the great family of the 

 Cassidiidae, and yet their bodies, instead of being round and 

 flattened, are oblong, and the head projecting from the thorax 

 instead of being buried in it and hidden under it. Nearly all 

 the Hispides are exotic, and there is not a single species which 

 is acknowledged by modern entomologists as being truly British. 

 Some of the species have the head prolonged into a horn, while 

 others not only have the head horned, but the first joint of the 

 antennae armed with a spine. 



The typical species of the Hispidae is Alurnus marginatus, a 

 native of Brazil. This is one of the largest of the Phytophagus 

 Beetles, and is indeed a very conspicuous insect, owing to the 

 bold contrasts of its colours. 



The ground colour appears at first sight to be dark brown, but 

 when illumined by a brilliant light, such as a sunbeam, it mani- 

 fests itself in its true splendour. It then appears to be dark 

 green, glossed with purple ; and if examined with a tolerably 

 powerful magnifying glass, the whole surface will be seen to be 

 covered with wrinkles and punctures, each puncture seeming to 



